HISTORY, Feb. 14: Oldest surviving photo of a president taken on this date

Wednesday

Feb 14, 2018 at 2:00 AM

Today is Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2018. There are 320 days left in the year. On Feb. 14, 1918, Russia converted from the Old Style Julian calendar to the New Style Gregorian calendar, "losing" 13 days in the process (for Russians, the day before was Jan. 31).

In 1663, New France (Canada) became a royal province under King Louis XIV.

In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France.

In 1849, President James K. Polk became the first U.S. chief executive to be photographed while in office as he posed for Matthew Brady in New York City.

In 1929, the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone's gang were gunned down.

In 1949, Israel's Knesset convened for the first time.

In 1962, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House in a videotaped special that was broadcast on CBS and NBC (and several nights later on ABC).